I happen to read and compare MN 117 and its Chinese Agama parallel MA 189 and partial parallel SA 785 and SA 789 today, and would like to share the following:
In MA 189 only one path with mundane right understanding and other mundane/supramundane path factors (a kind of a hybrid path, with 8 factors for the trainees and 10 factors for the arahants) was seen. In both SA 785 and SA 789 the two paths (mundane and supramundane) were seen. Strangely, at the end of MA 189, as in MN 117, “the Great Forty” (“twenty factors on the side of the wholesome, and twenty factors on the side of the unwholesome”) was mentioned:
MA 189: [from http://suttacentral.net/zh/ma189]
"... 是為二十善品、二十不善品，是為說四十大法品轉於梵輪，沙門、梵志、天及魔、梵及餘世間，無有能制而言非者。若有沙門、梵志者，我所說四十大法品轉於梵輪，沙門、梵志、天及魔、梵及餘世間，無有能制而言非者。" [It's the same as in MN 117]
MN 117: [http://suttacentral.net/en/mn117]
"... Thus, bhikkhus, there are twenty factors on the side of the wholesome, and twenty factors on the side of the unwholesome. This Dhamma discourse on the Great Forty has been set rolling and cannot be stopped by any recluse or brahmin or god or Māra or Brahmā or anyone in the world."
However, to my understanding, there are actually only twenty factors (ten on the side of the wholesome and ten on the side of the unwholesome for one path) in MA 189, not the forty factors for the two paths as seen in MN 117 or SA 785.
Considering the missing of the supramundane right view and the missing of the other twenty factors in MA 189, it appears to me that MA 189 is probably not the complete original discourse on the Great Forty. While MN 117 seems to be more complete and original than MA 189 in that it contains the two paths and forty factors, it somehow lost the mentioning of the four noble truths in the supramundane path, which was preserved in both SA 785 and SA 789 before the mentioning of the mental factors. It's a pity that only these mental factors, not the four noble truths, are now seen in the supramundane path in MN 117, which might have contributed to confusion and doubts. Let's use right view as an example:
SA 785:
“What is right view? Right view is of two types: there is right view that is mundane, with
'leaks' (有漏于正見：not being perfected in right view), with grasping, that turns towards [rebirth in] a good destination; and there is right view that is noble, supramundane, without 'leaks' (无漏于正見： being perfected in right view), without grasping, that rightly eradicates
dukkha and turns towards the transcendence of dukkha. What is right view that is [mundane], with 'leaks', with grasping, [that turns] towards [rebirth in] a good destination? If one has the view that there is giving, … there are arahants in this world who will not experience a further existence — this is called right view that is mundane, with leeks, with grasping, [that turns] towards [rebirth in] a good destination.
What is right view that is noble, supramundane, without 'leaks', without grasping, that rightly
eradicates dukkha and turns towards the transcendence of dukkha? It is: a noble disciple attends to suffering and contemplates suffering; attends to the cause of suffering and contemplates the cause; attends to the cessation of suffering and contemplates the cessation; attends to the path and contemplates the path. In the absence of defilements, he contemplates in accordance with the Dhamma [by way of] discrimination, investigation, inquiring, breakthrough and realization, wisdom, awakening and contemplative examination — this is called right view that is noble, supramundane, without 'leaks', without grasping, that rightly eradicates dukkha and turns towards the transcendence of dukkha."
MN 117:
And what, bhikkhus, is right view? Right view, I say, is twofold: there is right view that is affected by taints, partaking of merit, ripening in the acquisitions; and there is right view that is noble, taintless, supramundane, a factor of the path.
“And what, bhikkhus, is right view that is with "leaks", partaking of merit, ripening in the acquisitions? ‘There is what is given and what is offered and what is sacrificed; there is fruit and result of good and bad actions; there is this world and the other world; there is mother and father; there are beings who are reborn spontaneously; there are in the world good and virtuous recluses and brahmins who have realised for themselves by direct knowledge and declare this world and the other world.’ This is right view that is unperfected, partaking of merit, ripening in the acquisitions.
And what, bhikkhus, is right view that is noble, without "leaks", supramundane, a factor of the path? [Suppose the 4NT is here] The wisdom, the faculty of wisdom, the power of wisdom, the investigation-of-states enlightenment factor, the path factor of right view in one whose mind is noble, whose mind is (temporarily) without "leaks", who possesses the noble path and is developing the noble path: this is right view that is noble, without "leaks", supramundane, a factor of the path."
As we can see, with the precedence of the 4NT, the mental factors would become more understandable and make more sense.
Metta to all!
